Honour of PM post must be preserved: Chouhan on Rahul's remarks

A day after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi criticised the ordinance on convicted lawmakers, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said the honour of the Prime Minister's Office has to be maintained at any cost.

"The comments made by Rahul Gandhi about the ordinance amounted to an insult of the Prime Minister and his council of ministers," Chouhan said in a statement.

"An ordinance can be good or bad, but those sitting on constitutional posts must always be honoured. The honour of the Prime Minister's post be preserved at all cost," the Chief Minister added.

In a major embarrassment to the UPA government, Gandhi yesterday denounced the controversial ordinance to negate the Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers as 'complete nonsense' and said the ordinance should be 'torn up and thrown away'.

Gandhi's comments are being seen as sharp criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.